Photo credit: Dustin Halter for Alternative Nation
Any future Temple of the Dog performances with guest singers seem off the table, according to Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog bassist Jeff Ament in a new Kerrang interview. Ament discussed mourning Chris Cornell, and the power of the 2016 Temple of the Dog reunion tour.
“The shows were so beautiful,” he continues. “I think everybody was playing at such a high level – a level we wouldn’t have been able to play at when we made that record.”
As he recalls them covering Led Zeppelin’s Achilles Last Stand onstage together, his steady stream of words slows down.
“There was just something so positive and, not to use the word over and over again, but beautiful [about those shows], it makes it even harder to think that we’ll never do it again. I feel even worse for Matt, Kim [Thayil, guitar] and Ben [Shepherd, drums], and the guys in his other bands, and that’s not to say his wife and kids. That’s almost incomprehensible.”
Chris Cornell died by suicide in May 2017 while on tour with Soundgarden. He last toured with Temple of the Dog in November 2016 to celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary. Eddie Vedder did not participate in any 2016 performances.
